Changes in enzymatic activities involved in glucose metabolism by acyl-CoAs in Trypanosoma cruzi

This study describes the effect of some saturated and unsaturated free fatty acids and acyl-CoA thioesters on Trypanosoma cruzi glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and hexokinase activities. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase was sensitive to the destabilizing effect provoked by free fatty acids, while hexokinase remained unaltered. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase inhibition by free fatty acids was dependent on acid concentration and chain length. Both enzymes were inhibited when they were incubated with acyl-CoA thioesters. The acyl-CoA thioesters inhibited glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase at a lower concentration than the free fatty acids; the ligands glucose 6-phosphate and NADP+ afforded protection. The inhibition of hexokinase by acyl-CoAs was not reverted when the enzyme was incubated with ATP. The type of inhibition found with acyl-CoAs in relation to glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase and hexokinase suggests that this type inhibition may produce an in vivo modulation of these enzymatic activities.     

Inactivation of medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase by oct-4-en-2-ynoyl-CoA

Mitochondrial medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase is a key enzyme for the beta-oxidation of fatty acids, which catalyzes the FAD-dependent oxidation of a variety of acyl-CoA substrates to the corresponding trans-2-enoyl-CoA thioesters. Oct-4-en-2-ynoyl-CoA was identified as a new irreversible inhibitor of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and kinetic parameters K(I) and k(inact) were determined to be 11 microM and 0.025 min(-1), respectively. Triple bond between C2 and C3 of the inhibitor was identified as the functional group responsible for enzyme inactivation, and Michael addition is proposed as the mechanism for this inactivation, which is a new pathway for inactivation of MCAD by inhibitors. The inhibitor may become a lead for further development for treating non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.     

Purification and properties of a thioesterase from lactating rat mammary gland which modifies the product specificity of fatty acid synthetase

An acyl coenzyme A hydrolase (thioesterase II) has been purified to near homogeneity from lactating rat mammary gland. The enzyme is a monomer of molecular weight 33,000 and contains a single active site residue. The enzyme is specific for acyl groups, as acyl-CoA thioesters, containing eight or more carbon atoms and can also hydrolyze oxygen esters. Thioesterase II is capable of shifting the product specificity of rat mammary gland fatty acid synthetase from predominately long chain fatty acids (C14, C16, and C18) to mainly medium chain fatty acids (C8, C10, and C12). Thioesterase II can restore the capacity for fatty acid synthesis to fatty acid synthetase in which the thioesterase component (thioesterase I) has been inactivated with phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride or removed by trypsinization. No evidence was found of significant levels of thioesterase II in lactating rat liver. The presence of thioesterase II in the lactating mammary gland and the ability of the enzyme to hydrolyze acyl-fatty acid synthetase thioesters of intermediate chain length, are indicative of a major role for this enzyme in the synthesis of the medium chain fatty acids characteristic of milk fat.     

Products of fatty acid synthesis by a particulate fraction from germinating pea (Pisum sativum L.).

The synthesis of lipids and acyl thioesters was studied in microsomal preparations from germinating pea (Pisum sativum cv. Feltham First) seeds. Under conditions of maximal synthesis (in the presence of exogenous acyl-carrier protein) acyl-acyl-carrier proteins accounted for about half the total incorporation from [14C]malonyl-CoA. Decreasing the concentrations of exogenous acyl-carrier protein lowered the overall synthesis of fatty acids by decreasing, almost exclusively, the radioactivity associated with acyl-acyl-carrier proteins. A time-course experiment showed that acyl-acyl-carrier proteins accumulated most of the radioactive label at the beginning of the incubation but, eventually, the amount of radioactivity in that fraction decreased, while a simultaneous increase in the acyl-CoA and lipid fractions was noticed. Addition of exogenous CoA (1 mM) produced a decrease of total incorporation, but an increase in the radioactivity incorporated into acyl-CoA. The microsomal preparations synthesized saturated fatty acids up to C20, including significant proportions of pentadecanoic acid and heptadecanoic acid. Synthesis of these 'odd-chain' fatty acids only took place in the microsomal fraction. In contrast, when the 18,000g supernatant (containing the microsomal and soluble fractions) was incubated with [14C]malonyl-CoA, the radioactive fatty acid and acyl classes closely resembled the patterns produced by germinating in the presence of [14C]acetate in vivo. The results are discussed in relation to the role of acyl thioesters in the biosynthesis of plant lipids.     

Continuous recording of long-chain acyl-coenzyme a synthetase activity using fluorescently labeled bovine serum albumin

The fluorescence-based long-chain fatty acid probe BSA-HCA (bovine serum albumin labeled with 7-hydroxycoumarin-4-acetic acid) is shown to respond to binding of long-chain acyl-CoA thioesters by quenching of the 450 nm fluorescence emission. As determined by spectrofluorometric titration, binding affinities for palmitoyl-, stearoyl-, and oleoyl-CoA (Kd = 0.2-0.4 microM) are 5-10 times lower than those for the corresponding nonesterified fatty acids. In the presence of detergent (Chaps, Triton X-100, n-octylglucoside) above the critical micelle concentration, acyl-CoA partitions from BSA-HCA and into the detergent micelles. This allows BSA-HCA to be used as a fluorescent probe for continuous recording of fatty acid concentrations in detergent solution with little interference from acyl-CoA. Using a calibration of the fluorescence signal with fatty acids in the C14 to C20 chain-length range, fatty acid consumption by Pseudomonas fragi and rat liver microsomal acyl-CoA synthetase activities are measured down to 0.05 microM/min with a data sampling rate of 10 points per second. This new method provides a very promising spectrofluorometric approach to the study of acyl-CoA synthetase reaction kinetics at physiologically relevant (nM) aqueous phase concentrations of fatty acid substrates and at a time resolution that cannot be obtained in isotopic sampling or enzyme-coupled assays.     

Establishing a Toolkit for Precursor-Directed Polyketide Biosynthesis: Exploring Substrate Promiscuities of Acid-CoA Ligases

Polyketides are chemically diverse and medicinally important biochemicals that are biosynthesized from acyl-CoA precursors by polyketide synthases. One of the limitations to combinatorial biosynthesis of polyketides has been the lack of a toolkit that describes the means of delivering novel acyl-CoA precursors necessary for polyketide biosynthesis. Using five acid-CoA ligases obtained from various plants and microorganisms, we biosynthesized an initial library of 79 acyl-CoA thioesters by screening each of the acid-CoA ligases against a library of 123 carboxylic acids. The library of acyl-CoA thioesters includes derivatives of cinnamyl-CoA, 3-phenylpropanoyl-CoA, benzoyl-CoA, phenylacetyl-CoA, malonyl-CoA, saturated and unsaturated aliphatic CoA thioesters, and bicyclic aromatic CoA thioesters. In our search for the biosynthetic routes of novel acyl-CoA precursors, we discovered two previously unreported malonyl-CoA derivatives (3-thiophenemalonyl-CoA and phenylmalonyl-CoA) that cannot be produced by canonical malonyl-CoA synthetases. This report highlights the utility and importance of determining substrate promiscuities beyond conventional substrate pools and describes novel enzymatic routes for the establishment of precursor-directed combinatorial polyketide biosynthesis.     

Evidence for two-step regulation of pheromone biosynthesis by the pheromone biosynthesis-activating neuropeptide in the moth Heliothis virescens

The control of pheromone biosynthesis by the neuropeptide PBAN was investigated in the moth Heliothis virescens. When decapitated females were injected with [2-(14)C] acetate, females co-injected with PBAN produced significantly greater quantities of radiolabeled fatty acids in their pheromone gland than females co-injected with saline. This indicates that PBAN controls an enzyme involved in the synthesis of fatty acids, probably acetyl CoA carboxylase. Decapitated females injected with PBAN showed a rapid increase in native pheromone, and a slower increase in the pheromone precursor, (Z)-11-hexadecenoate. Total native palmitate and stearate (both pheromone intermediates) showed a significant decrease after PBAN injection, before their titers were later restored to initial levels. In contrast, the acyl-CoA thioesters of these two saturated fatty acids increased during the period when their total titers decreased. When a mixture of labeled palmitic and heptadecanoic (an acid that cannot be converted to pheromone) acids was applied to the gland, PBAN-injected females produced greater quantities of labeled pheromone and precursor than did saline-injected ones. The two acids showed similar time-course patterns, with no difference in total titers of each of the respective acids between saline- and PBAN-injected females. When labeled heptadecanoic acid was applied to the gland alone, there was no difference in titers of either total heptadecanoate or of heptadecanoyl-CoA between PBAN- and saline-injected females, suggesting that PBAN does not directly control the storage or liberation of fatty acids in the gland, at least for this fatty acid. Overall, these data indicate that PBAN also controls a later step involved in pheromone biosynthesis, perhaps the reduction of acyl-CoA moieties. The control by PBAN of two enzymes, near the beginning and end of the pheromone biosynthetic process, would seem to allow for more efficient utilization of fatty acids and pheromone than control of only one enzyme.     

SILEC: a protocol for generating and using isotopically labeled coenzyme A mass spectrometry standards

Stable isotope labeling by essential nutrients in cell culture (SILEC) was recently developed to generate isotopically labeled coenzyme A (CoA) and short-chain acyl-CoA thioesters. This was accomplished by modifying the widely used technique of stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture to include [(13)C(3)(15)N]-pantothenate (vitamin B(5)), a CoA precursor, instead of the isotopically labeled amino acids. The lack of a de novo pantothenate synthesis pathway allowed for efficient and near-complete labeling of the measured CoA species. This protocol provides a step-by-step approach for generating stable isotope-labeled short-chain acyl-CoA internal standards in mammalian and insect cells as well as instructions on how to use them in stable isotope dilution mass spectrometric-based analyses. Troubleshooting guidelines, as well as a list of unlabeled and labeled CoA species, are also included. This protocol represents a prototype for generating stable isotope internal standards from labeled essential nutrients such as pantothenate. The generation and use of SILEC standards takes approximately 2-3 weeks.     

Some properties and subcellular distribution of acyl-coenzyme A: retinol acyltransferase activity in rat testes

The present study was conducted to examine esterification of retinol by testicular microsomes. The microsomes were isolated from rat testes and were incubated under varying assay conditions with [3H]retinol. [3H]Retinylpalmitate was identified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography as an esterified product. The rate of esterification was increased by the addition of a fatty acyl-CoA. Coenzyme A esters of oleic, palmitic and stearic acids were equally effective substrates for retinol esterification. A 17-fold increase was observed in the presence of palmitoyl-CoA when microsomes had been pretreated with hydroxylamine, a reagent that reacts with coenzyme A thioesters to form hydroxamic acids. The esterifying activity was stimulated by the addition of dithiothreitol (4 mM) and fatty acid-free bovine serum albumin (1 mg/ml). The optimal concentrations for retinol and palmitoyl-CoA were 40 microM and 30-40 microM, respectively. The enzyme activity was inhibited by p-hydroxymercuribenzoate, sodium taurocholate and 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid), but not by EDTA. The enzyme activity was highest in microsomes (36%). However, some activity was present in mitochondria (29%). These results clearly show the presence of a fatty acyl-CoA: retinol acyltransferase that catalyzes the esterification of retinol in rat testes.     

Long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase is a key enzyme in the mitochondrial beta-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids

The first reaction of mitochondrial beta-oxidation, which is catalyzed by acyl-CoA dehydrogenases, was studied with unsaturated fatty acids that have a double bond either at the 4,5 or 5,6 position. The CoA thioesters of docosahexaenoic acid, arachidonic acid, 4,7,10-cis-hexadecatrienoic acid, 5-cis-tetradecenoic acid, and 4-cis-decenoic acid were effectively dehydrogenated by both rat and human long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (LCAD), whereas they were poor substrates of very long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenases (VLCAD). VLCAD, however, was active with CoA derivatives of long-chain saturated fatty acids or unsaturated fatty acids that have double bonds further removed from the thioester function. Although bovine LCAD effectively dehydrogenated 5-cis-tetradecenoyl-CoA (14:1) and 4,7,10-cis-hexadecatrienoyl-CoA, it was nearly inactive toward the other unsaturated substrates. The catalytic efficiency of rat VLCAD with 14:1 as substrate was only 4% of the efficiency determined with tetradecanoyl-CoA, whereas LCAD acted equally well on both substrates. The conclusion of this study is that LCAD serves an important, if not essential function in the beta-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids.     

Mitochondrial metabolism of 3-mercaptopropionic acid. Chemical synthesis of 3-mercaptopropionyl coenzyme A and some of its S-acyl derivatives

The metabolism of 3-mercaptopropionic acid in mitochondria was studied by use of purified mitochondrial enzymes and rat heart mitochondria. Metabolites of 3-mercaptopropionic acid were separated by high performance liquid chromatography and identified by comparing them with chemically synthesized derivatives of 3-mercaptopropionic acid. The initial step in the metabolism of 3-mercaptopropionic acid is its conversion to a CoA thioester, most likely catalyzed by medium-chain acyl-CoA synthetase. The resulting 3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA is a poor substrate of acyl-CoA dehydrogenase but substitutes effectively for CoASH in reactions catalyzed by 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase and acetoacetyl-CoA thiolase. S-Acyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA thioesters formed in the thiolase-catalyzed reactions are not at all or only poorly acted upon by acyl-CoA dehydrogenases. However, they are hydrolyzed by thioesterase(s) to CoASH and S-acyl-3-mercaptopropionic acid. The hydrolysis of S-acyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA thioesters proceeds more rapidly than the hydrolysis of fatty acyl-CoA thioesters of comparable chain lengths. Free CoASH is also regenerated from S-acetyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA and more rapidly from 3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA as a result of their reactions with carnitine catalyzed by carnitine acetyltransferase. These findings lead to the suggestion that the major mitochondrial CoA-containing metabolites of 3-mercaptopropionic acid are S-acyl-3-mercaptopropionyl-CoA thioesters.     

Mouse cardiac acyl coenzyme a synthetase 1 deficiency impairs Fatty Acid oxidation and induces cardiac hypertrophy

Long-chain acyl coenzyme A (acyl-CoA) synthetase isoform 1 (ACSL1) catalyzes the synthesis of acyl-CoA from long-chain fatty acids and contributes the majority of cardiac long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase activity. To understand its functional role in the heart, we studied mice lacking ACSL1 globally (Acsl1(T-/-)) and mice lacking ACSL1 in heart ventricles (Acsl1(H-/-)) at different times. Compared to littermate controls, heart ventricular ACSL activity in Acsl1(T-/-) mice was reduced more than 90%, acyl-CoA content was 65% lower, and long-chain acyl-carnitine content was 80 to 90% lower. The rate of [(14)C]palmitate oxidation in both heart homogenate and mitochondria was 90% lower than in the controls, and the maximal rates of [(14)C]pyruvate and [(14)C]glucose oxidation were each 20% higher. The mitochondrial area was 54% greater than in the controls with twice as much mitochondrial DNA, and the mRNA abundance of Pgc1α and Errα increased by 100% and 41%, respectively. Compared to the controls, Acsl1(T-/-) and Acsl1(H-/-) hearts were hypertrophied, and the phosphorylation of S6 kinase, a target of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase, increased 5-fold. Our data suggest that ACSL1 is required to synthesize the acyl-CoAs that are oxidized by the heart, and that without ACSL1, diminished fatty acid (FA) oxidation and compensatory catabolism of glucose and amino acids lead to mTOR activation and cardiac hypertrophy without lipid accumulation or immediate cardiac dysfunction.     

Inhibition of yeast phosphatidic-acid synthesis by free fatty acids

Particulate preparations obtained from cells of yeast Saccharomyces sake have been shown to possess glycerolphosphate acyltransferase and 1-acylglycerolphosphate acyltransferase activities. Glycerolphosphate acyltransferase exhibits a high specificity for saturated and monoenoic fatty acyl-CoA thioesters. When palmitoyl-CoA is employed as sole acyl group donor, the major lipid product is lysophosphatidic acid. 1-Acylglycerolphosphate acyltransferase of this yeast species has a rather strict specificity for monoenoic fatty acyl-CoA thioesters as acyl donor. These two acyltransferases are strongly inhibited in vitro by low concentrations of free fatty acids. 1-Acylglycerolphosphate acyltransferase is much more susceptible to fatty acid inhibition than glycerolphosphate acyltransferase. The inhibition is dependent not only on the concentration of fatty acid, but also on the length of exposure to fatty acid. Both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids inhibit the acyltransferase activities. The inhibitory effects of fatty acids cannot be ascribed to a nonspecific surfactant action of fatty acids. The present results support the view that free fatty acid serves as a regulator of glycerolipid synthesis.     

Acyl-CoA elongase from a higher plant (Lunaria annua): metabolic intermediates of very-long-chain acyl-CoA products and substrate specificity

A particulate fraction (15,000 x g pellet) from developing seeds of honesty (Lunaria annua) was found to synthesize very-long-chain acyl-CoA thioesters in a manner similar to mammalian systems, i.e., via condensation of an acyl-CoA with malonyl-CoA yielding beta-ketoacyl-CoA, which is reduced to beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA, the latter dehydrated to trans-2-enoyl-CoA that is finally reduced to very-long-chain acyl-CoA. Reduced pyridine nucleotides (NADH/NADPH) are required for the reduction steps. In the absence of reduced pyridine nucleotides only the condensation reaction occurs. The acyl-CoA elongase does not exhibit any pronounced specificity for any of the saturated (14:0 to 20:0) or (n - 9)cis-monounsaturated (14:1 to 22:1) acyl-CoA substrates, although both the saturated and monounsaturated acyl-CoA substrates having chain lengths of C18 and C20 are elongated somewhat faster.     

Triacsin C: a differential inhibitor of arachidonoyl-CoA synthetase and nonspecific long chain acyl-CoA synthetase

Triacsins A, B, C, and D are newly discovered compounds isolated from the culture filtrate of streptomyces which are known to inhibit nonspecific long chain acyl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.3.). These inhibitors have not been previously studied with regard to their effects on arachidonoyl-CoA synthetase, an enzyme which specifically utilizes arachidonate and other icosanoid precursor fatty acids. To explore this question, we used triacsin C, a potent inhibitor of the nonspecific acyl-CoA synthetase. Triacsin C was found to inhibit the action of arachidonoyl-CoA synthetase and the nonspecific enzyme in sonicates of HSDM1C1 mouse fibrosarcoma cells. Importantly, however, the triacsin concentration and length of pre-incubation with the enzymes could be adjusted to almost completely inhibit (greater than 80%) the nonspecific long chain acyl CoA-synthetase, with less than 20% inhibition of arachidonoyl-CoA synthetase. Using intact cultured cells exposed to 1 ug/ml triacsin for up to 15 minutes, we unexpectedly observed preferential inhibition of arachidonoyl-CoA synthetase activity. In intact cell studies, arachidonoyl-CoA synthetase was inhibited greater than 90%, with 55-60% inhibition of the nonspecific acyl-CoA synthetase. As additional evidence of its inhibition of acyl-CoA synthetase enzymes in intact cells, triacsin C inhibited both fatty acid uptake into cells and icosanoid production, metabolic processes which in certain cell types appear to be dependent on acyl-CoA synthetase activity. Thus, triacsin C is a novel inhibitor which can alter the fatty metabolism of intact cells. This compound can be of significant value in determining the specific cellular functions of the two acyl-CoA synthetase enzymes.     

The human liver-specific homolog of very long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase is cholate:CoA ligase

Unconjugated bile acids must be activated to their CoA thioesters before conjugation to taurine or glycine can occur. A human homolog of very long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase, hVLCS-H2, has two requisite properties of a bile acid:CoA ligase, liver specificity and an endoplasmic reticulum subcellular localization. We investigated the ability of this enzyme to activate the primary bile acid, cholic acid, to its CoA derivative. When expressed in COS-1 cells, hVLCS-H2 exhibited cholate:CoA ligase (choloyl-CoA synthetase) activity with both non-isotopic and radioactive assays. Other long- and very long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases were incapable of activating cholate. Endogenous choloyl-CoA synthetase activity was also detected in liver-derived HepG2 cells but not in kidney-derived COS-1 cells. Our results are consistent with a role for hVLCS-H2 in the re-activation and re-conjugation of bile acids entering liver from the enterohepatic circulation rather than in de novo bile acid synthesis.     

Evidence for an essential role of long chain acyl-CoA synthetase in animal cell proliferation. Inhibition of long chain acyl-CoA synthetase by triacsins caused inhibition of Raji cell proliferation

Triacsins A, B, C, and D are new inhibitors of long chain acyl-CoA synthetase (EC 6.2.1.3) and possess different inhibitory potencies against the enzyme (Tomoda, H., Igarashi, K., and Omura, S. (1987) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 921, 595-598). Acyl-CoA synthetase activity in the membrane fraction of Raji cells was also inhibited by triacsins. The same hierarchy of inhibitory potency as that against the enzyme from other sources, triacsin C greater than triacsin A much greater than triacsin D greater than or equal to triacsin B, was observed. When Raji cells were cultivated in the presence of triacsins, cell proliferation was inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion. The drug concentrations required for 50% inhibition of cell growth at day 2 were calculated to be 1.8 microM for triacsin A, much greater than 20 microM for triacsin B, 1.0 microM for triacsin C, and much greater than 15 microM for triacsin D, demonstrating a hierarchy for inhibitory potency of triacsins similar to that against the acyl-CoA synthetase activity. To understand the role of long chain acyl-CoA synthetase in animal cells, the effect of triacsins on the lipid metabolism of Raji cells was studied. When intact Raji cells were incubated with [14C]oleate in the presence of individual triacsins, the incorporation of [14C]oleate into each of the lipid fractions such as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and triacylglycerol was inhibited to an analogous extent. A common hierarchy, triacsin C greater than triacsin A much greater than triacsin D greater than triacsin B, was shown for the inhibition in each synthesis of the three lipids, which was identical with that for acyl-CoA synthetase. These findings indicate that the inhibition of acyl-CoA synthetase is well correlated with the inhibition of lipid synthesis. Taken together, the data strongly suggest that the inhibition of acyl-CoA synthetase by triacsins leads to the inhibition of lipid synthesis and eventually to the inhibition of proliferation of Raji cells.     

Aptitude of cheese bacteria for volatile S-methyl thioester synthesis I. Effect of substrates and pH on their formation by Brevibacterium linens GC171

The aptitude of resting cells of Brevibacterium linens G171 to synthesize S-methyl thioesters was studied in presence of methanethiol and nine short-chain fatty acids individually or as a mixture. Esterification of acetic, propionic and methyl branched-chain acids occurred with methanethiol alone and was enhanced by fatty acid addition. Addition of n-chain, 3-hydroxybutyric and 2-hydroxyvaleric acids allowed synthesis of n-chain thioesters up to thiocaproate. The kinetics of production and the effect of concentrations of both substrates and of cells were tested. The optimum pH for synthesis varied according to the kind of thioesters produced. Results suggested that thioesters were derived mainly from acyl-CoA from different metabolic breakdowns, such as the degradation of fatty acids or some amino acids, and that several acyltransferases could be involved. Received: 1 August 1996 / Received revision: 10 October 1996 / Accepted: 18 October 1996     

Overview of coenzyme A metabolism and its role in cellular toxicity

Coenzyme A (CoASH) has a clearly defined role as a cofactor for a number of oxidative and biosynthetic reactions in intermediary metabolism. Formation of acyl-CoA thioesters from organic carboxylic acids activates the acid for further biotransformation reactions and facilitates enzyme recognition. Xenobiotic carboxylic acids can also form CoA-thioesters, and the resulting acyl-CoA may contribute to the compound's toxicity. Generation of an unusual or poorly-metabolized acyl-CoA from a xenobiotic may lead to cellular metabolic dysfunction through several types of mechanisms including: (1) inhibition of key metabolic enzymes by the acyl-CoA; (2) sequestration of the total cellular CoA pool as the unusual acyl-CoA; (3) physical-chemical effects of the acyl-CoA; and (4) sequestration and depletion of carnitine as the acyl group is transformed from the acyl-CoA to form the corresponding acylcarnitine. Many of these toxicities are similar to sequelae observed in the inherited organic acidurias in which endogenously-generated acyl-CoAs accumulate secondary to an enzymopathy. Insights into the cellular mechanisms of xenobiotic acyl-CoA accumulation have been derived from model systems developed to understand organic acidemias, such as the methylmalonyl-CoA accumulation of the methylmalonic acidurias. The relevance of acyl-CoA accretion to human pathophysiology has now been well established, and identification of the relevant mechanism of toxicity can allow implementation of strategies to minimize the metabolic injury. Additionally, recognition of the potential for acyl-CoA mediated xenobiotic injury should result in improved rational drug design and earlier recognition of such toxicity when it develops.